Summary: As chief scout for the USMNT under Bruce Arena, Thomas Rongen was responsible for keeping tabs on potential US internationals, including 18-year-old midfielder Jonathan Gonzalez, who chose this week to represent Mexico instead of the US. In this episode of Dummy, Thomas talks about the process for making contact and building relationships with players who have the option to represent multiple countries, which is something he did during the past year but also as head coach of the US U-20 team from 2006 to 2011. He has helped find and recruit players like John Brooks, Bobby Wood, Julian Green, Mix Diskerud, Terrence Boyd, Jerome Kiesewetter, and others—and his thoughts on why Bobby Wood is still a big part of the national team while Julian Green’s career has stalled are especially interesting. A few notes: -If you think you might like to come to our live event we'll be putting on with the Total Soccer Show on Thursday, January 18th (7pm, Jose Pistolas, Philadelphia), drop your email address here: fifa.wtf/philly2018 -Use promo code DUMMYSENTME to get Howler for just $11 per issue (for those in the US, shipping included) here: fifa.wtf/gethowler -Dummy is listener supported, and you can join in with as little as $3 per month at fifa.wtf/supportdummy -If you’d like to send in a question for our "Ask a Dummy" segment, you can do so here: fifa.wtf/askadummy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
